On Oct. 30 both Peanut and Fred were confiscated by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and later both animals were euthanized in order to be tested for rabies. Both animals tested negative for the disease.

Peanut the pet squirrel, who was a social media star before being seized by authorities in upstate New York, tested negative for rabies after being euthanized, a county official said Tuesday.

Peanut the squirrel, the Instagram-famous rodent whose killing by New York State environmental officers became a brief election flashpoint, did not have rabies after all, officials have said. The animal's owner, Mark Longo, said he would file legal action ...